1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to communication systems and in particular, to campus networks with near field communication devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Students on university campuses typically use their student identity (ID) cards to gain access to dormitories, classrooms, student centers, and other campus facilities. These plastic ID cards contain a magnetic stripe or a near-field-communication (NFC) chip that when swiped or touched to an existing campus reader causes a door access control system to grant access and open the door. Data on the magnetic stripe or the NFC-card may also be linked to the student's identification to trigger payments for purchases. For example, a student may use his/her card to pay for a meal in the cafeteria or to purchase books in the campus bookstore.
However, in existing student ID systems, the information flow caused by touching the badge to a reader is unidirectional, i.e. from the student to the system. In fact, although most students already carry mobile devices, and many of these are smart-phones capable of browsing the web and receiving immediate and asynchronous alerts, such as text messages and push-notifications, in current student ID systems, no information is sent back to the student relating to the touch of his/her identification card to a reader. Thus, current student ID systems do not provide additional information that can be automatically delivered in a real-time and timely way back from the system to the student.
In a different context, mobile devices have been proposed for making purchases in coffee shops by displaying 2D barcodes read by point-of-sale readers. In addition, next-generation mobile devices have been proposed that contain NFC readers capable of reading tags on posters and billboards for delivery of advertisements. However, there has been no coupling or integration of these NFC devices to the existing legacy door access and control systems typically found on almost every university and college campus worldwide.